BACKGROUND: Central nervous system blood vessel thrombosis is a part of the pathogenesis of equid herpesvirus‐associated myeloencephalopathy (EHM). D‐dimers (DD) are stable breakdown products of ...cross‐linked fibrin, and increased DD‐plasma concentrations could reflect the degree of systemic coagulation during EHV‐1 infection. HYPOTHESIS: We hypothesized that blood DD concentrations will be increased during periods of EHV‐1 fever and viremia, reflecting an activated coagulation cascade with fibrinolysis. ANIMALS: Twenty‐eight equids were infected with EHV‐1 in 3 experimental infection studies. Three (uninfected) horses were included in a separate study to evaluate methodology for DD concentration measurements. METHODS: Clinical data and quantitative viremia were evaluated, and DD concentrations were measured in blood samples on the day before the infection and during days 1–12 postchallenge. Uninfected horses were sampled every 3 hours for 48 hours. Logistic and linear regression was used to investigate the potential association between the fever and viremia with the presence or absence of DD concentrations in peripheral blood. RESULTS: DD concentrations were increased for 1–8 days in the majority of infected animals. Both viremia (odds ratio OR 6.3; 95% confidence interval CI 3.4–11.8; P = .0013) and fever (OR 4.9; CI 2.3–10.1; P = .001) were strongly associated with the likelihood of detecting DD in peripheral blood. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: EHV‐1 viremia is associated with increases in DD concentration in horses and ponies. This indicates that EHV‐1 viremia can lead to an activation of coagulation and fibrinolysis.
The conduct of randomized controlled trials in livestock with production, health, and food-safety outcomes presents unique challenges that may not be adequately reported in trial reports. The ...objective of this project was to modify the CONSORT (Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials) statement to reflect the unique aspects of reporting these livestock trials. A two-day consensus meeting was held on November 18–19, 2008 in Chicago, IL, United States of America, to achieve the objective. Prior to the meeting, a Web-based survey was conducted to identify issues for discussion. The 24 attendees were biostatisticians, epidemiologists, food-safety researchers, livestock-production specialists, journal editors, assistant editors, and associate editors. Prior to the meeting, the attendees completed a Web-based survey indicating which CONSORT statement items may need to be modified to address unique issues for livestock trials. The consensus meeting resulted in the production of the REFLECT (Reporting Guidelines For Randomized Control Trials) statement for livestock and food safety (LFS) and 22-item checklist. Fourteen items were modified from the CONSORT checklist, and an additional sub-item was proposed to address challenge trials. The REFLECT statement proposes new terminology, more consistent with common usage in livestock production, to describe study subjects. Evidence was not always available to support modification to or inclusion of an item. The use of the REFLECT statement, which addresses issues unique to livestock trials, should improve the quality of reporting and design for trials reporting production, health, and food-safety outcomes.
Concerns about the completeness and accuracy of reporting of randomized clinical trials (RCTs) and the impact of poor reporting on decision making have been documented in the medical field over the ...past several decades. Experience from RCTs in human medicine would suggest that failure to report critical trial features can be associated with biased estimated effect measures, and there is evidence to suggest that similar biases occur in RCTs conducted in livestock populations. In response to these concerns, standardized guidelines for reporting RCTs were developed and implemented in human medicine. The Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) statement was first published in 1996, with a revised edition published in 2001. The CONSORT statement consists of a 22‐item checklist for reporting a RCT and a flow diagram to follow the number of participants at each stage of a trial. An explanation and elaboration document not only defines and discusses the importance of each of the items, but also provides examples of how this information could be supplied in a publication. Differences between human and livestock populations necessitate modifications to the CONSORT statement to maximize its usefulness for RCTs involving livestock. These have been addressed in an extension of the CONSORT statement titled the REFLECT statement: Methods and processes of creating reporting guidelines for randomized control trials for livestock and food safety. The modifications made for livestock trials specifically addressed the common use of group housing and group allocation to intervention in livestock studies; the use of deliberate challenge models in some trials and the common use of non‐clinical outcomes, such as contamination with a foodborne pathogen. In addition, the REFLECT statement for RCTs in livestock populations proposed specific terms or further clarified terms as they pertained to livestock studies.
Background: Since 2004, canine influenza virus (CIV) has spread throughout the United States. While studies suggest that CIV is commonly detected in shelter dogs, little is known about its prevalence ...in household dogs. Objectives: To evaluate the seroprevalence of CIV in pet dogs presented for care in a veterinary hospital in Colorado and to investigate risk factors that might predispose these dogs to CIV infection. Animals: One hundred and forty dogs presenting to the Community Practice service, 110 dogs seen at other clinical services at Colorado State University's Veterinary Teaching Hospital in 2009, and samples from 75 dogs seen before 2004. Methods: In this prospective study, samples were tested with hemagglutination inhibition assays, using 3 CIV isolates. To identify risk factors for CIV infection, 140 owners completed questionnaires at time of sampling. Results: CIV seroprevalence was 2.9% (4/140) for dogs seen by the Community Practice service and 4.5% (5/110) for dogs seen by other hospital services (P= .48). All sera collected before 2004 tested negative for CIV. No differences were seen in antibody titers to the 3 CIV isolates tested. Data from the questionnaires indicated an association between CIV seropositivity and canine daycare visits (P < .001). Conclusion and Clinical Importance: CIV seropositivity in household dogs in Colorado is low, although it has increased since 2004. Antibody titers to the 3 CIV isolates were comparable, suggesting that measurable antigenic drift has not yet occurred. Finally, dogs boarded in kennels or attending daycare might be at an increased risk of CIV infection.
The conduct of randomized controlled trials in livestock with production, health, and food‐safety outcomes presents unique challenges that might not be adequately reported in trial reports. The ...objective of this project was to modify the CONSORT (Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials) statement to reflect the unique aspects of reporting these livestock trials. A 2‐day consensus meeting was held on November 18–19, 2008 in Chicago, IL, to achieve the objective. Before the meeting, a Web‐based survey was conducted to identify issues for discussion. The 24 attendees were biostatisticians, epidemiologists, food‐safety researchers, livestock production specialists, journal editors, assistant editors, and associate editors. Before the meeting, the attendees completed a Web‐based survey indicating which CONSORT statement items would need to be modified to address unique issues for livestock trials. The consensus meeting resulted in the production of the REFLECT (Reporting Guidelines for Randomized Control Trials) statement for livestock and food safety and 22‐item checklist. Fourteen items were modified from the CONSORT checklist, and an additional subitem was proposed to address challenge trials. The REFLECT statement proposes new terminology, more consistent with common usage in livestock production, to describe study subjects. Evidence was not always available to support modification to or inclusion of an item. The use of the REFLECT statement, which addresses issues unique to livestock trials, should improve the quality of reporting and design for trials reporting production, health, and food‐safety outcomes.
To compare Salmonella enterica serotype Infantis isolates obtained from patients or the environment of a veterinary teaching hospital over a period of 9 years following a nosocomial outbreak to ...determine whether isolates were epidemiologically related or represented unrelated introductions into the hospital environment. Fifty-six S. Infantis isolates were compared based on their phenotypic (antimicrobial drug AMD susceptibility pattern) and genotypic (pulsed-field gel electrophoresis PFGE pattern and presence of integrons) characteristics. Epidemiologically unrelated S. Infantis isolates clustered separately from all but two of the hospital isolates, and several isolates from different years and various sources were indistinguishable from each other in cluster analysis of two-enzyme PFGE results. A high percentage of isolates (80·3%) were resistant to at least one AMD, with 67·8% showing resistance to >5 AMD. The majority (74·1%) of isolates tested contained type 1 integrons. Results strongly suggest that there was nosocomial transmission of S. Infantis during the initial outbreak, and that contamination arising from this outbreak persisted across years despite rigorous hygiene and biosecurity precautions and may have led to subsequent nosocomial infections. Evidence of persistence and transmission of Salmonella clones across years, even in the face of rigorous preventive measures, has important implications for other facilities that have experienced outbreaks of Salmonella infections.
Summary
Reasons for performing study: Risk factors for occult exercise‐induced pulmonary haemorrhage (EIPH) are poorly defined or quantified.
Objectives: To investigate the importance of putative ...risk factors for EIPH amongst Thoroughbred racehorses in Australia.
Methods: Tracheobronchoscopy was used to determine EIPH status of 744 Thoroughbred racehorses after flat racing in Melbourne, Australia. Horses were identified for study before racing, and over 50% of horses racing during the study period were examined. Statistical analysis included use of bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis to account for simultaneous effects of a large number of variables.
Results: The only risk factor identified as associated with both EIPH ≥1 or ≥2 was ambient temperature, with horses racing at temperatures <20°C being at ∼ 2 times risk of occult EIPH. There was no association of EIPH with age, sex, weight carried, track hardness, speed of racing, or air quality.
Conclusions: There do not appear to be individual risk factors, amongst those examined in this study, that are strongly associated with EIPH.
Potential relevance: The risk of developing EIPH cannot be readily determined from a combination of age, race speed, race distance, track hardness or air quality. This study does not provide support for the hypotheses that racing on hard surfaces or in polluted air contributes to the development of EIPH.
Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) has been shown to modulate atrial electrophysiology and confer protection against ischemia and ventricular arrhythmias in animal models.
To determine whether SCS reduces ...the susceptibility to atrial fibrillation (AF) induced by tachypacing (TP).
In 21 canines, upper thoracic SCS systems and custom cardiac pacing systems were implanted. Right atrial and left atrial effective refractory periods were measured at baseline and after 15 minutes of SCS. Following recovery in a subset of canines, pacemakers were turned on to induce AF by alternately delivering TP and searching for AF. Canines were randomized to no SCS therapy (CTL) or intermittent SCS therapy on the initiation of TP (EARLY) or after 8 weeks of TP (LATE). AF burden (percent AF relative to total sense time) and AF inducibility (percentage of TP periods resulting in AF) were monitored weekly. After 15 weeks, echocardiography and histology were performed.
Effective refractory periods increased by 21 ± 14 ms (P = .001) in the left atrium and 29 ± 12 ms (P = .002) in the right atrium after acute SCS. AF burden was reduced for 11 weeks in EARLY compared with CTL (P <.05) animals. AF inducibility remained lower by week 15 in EARLY compared with CTL animals (32% ± 10% vs 91% ± 6%; P <.05). AF burden and inducibility were not significantly different between LATE and CTL animals. There were no structural differences among any groups.
SCS prolonged atrial effective refractory periods and reduced AF burden and inducibility in a canine AF model induced by TP. These data suggest that SCS may represent a treatment option for AF.
The conduct of randomized controlled trials in livestock with production, health and food-safety outcomes presents unique challenges that may not be adequately reported in trial reports. The ...objective of this project was to modify the CONSORT (Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials) statement to reflect the unique aspects of reporting these livestock trials. A 2-day consensus meeting was held on 18-19 November 2008 in Chicago, IL, USA, to achieve the objective. Prior to the meeting, a Web-based survey was conducted to identify issues for discussion. The 24 attendees were biostatisticians, epidemiologists, food-safety researchers, livestock-production specialists, journal editors, assistant editors and associate editors. Prior to the meeting, the attendees completed a Web-based survey indicating which CONSORT statement items may need to be modified to address unique issues for livestock trials. The consensus meeting resulted in the production of the REFLECT (Reporting Guidelines for Randomized Control Trials) statement for livestock and food safety and 22-item checklist. Fourteen items were modified from the CONSORT checklist and an additional sub-item was proposed to address challenge trials. The REFLECT statement proposes new terminology, more consistent with common usage in livestock production, to describe study subjects. Evidence was not always available to support modification to or inclusion of an item. The use of the REFLECT statement, which addresses issues unique to livestock trials, should improve the quality of reporting and design for trials reporting production, health and food-safety outcomes.
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